Words That Sting
by Irish Angell
Summary: Takes place during "Odor in the Court" from when Betty yells at Gio to just before Hilda comes at the doctor's office. All from Gio's POV. Kind of a sequel to "Someday". This is my 2nd UB fic, so please be kind.


**AN:** This is about Gio's feelings after Betty yelled at him in "Odor in the Court" and leads up to before Hilda shows up in the doctor's office. It is also kind of a sequel to "Someday" as it has elements from that fic. I hope you like it!

I dedicate this fic to fellow Getty shipper Beatrice, who makes the most awesome Getty videos and has been so enthusiastic about my Getty fics. :D

* * *

"Hey, Betty?" Gio said the moment he spotted her behind her desk.

"I don't need it right now, Gio!" she said, putting her hand up as a sign to leave her alone, but he couldn't. This was too important. He had to say these things or he would lose his nerve.

He put his hands up in front of him as a gesture that he meant to harm. "Look, I've been thinking about it and I just… I want to apologize." Betty began to sharpen pencils, trying to ignore him, but he went on, "I should have never said that Egg Salad was gonna do anything wrong in Tucson. And, I know you don't like it, so I'm not gonna call him 'Egg Salad' anymore. 'Kay? It's Henry." His heart sank, "Your boyfriend, Henry." The words cut through him like a knife.

She looked up at him, "Thank you." She didn't sound thankful. She sounded annoyed. That's never stopped Gio before.

He took a seat on her desk, "So, has _Henry_ checked in?" Eck! He hated saying that name out loud.

Betty turned to him, "What? Why?" she said, still very annoyed, but he could tell that it wasn't him that annoyed her. Something was wrong.

"You okay?" he mentally cursed himself for sounding so worried. She didn't seem to notice.

"Yes, I'm fine."

"Has he called?" he didn't really care if Henry called or not. He just wanted an excuse to talk to Betty.

"No, no, no! Henry _hasn't_ called! And that's probably because he's been very, _very_ busy with his…" she snapped a pencil in half and Gio's eyes widened, "sonogram!"

'_Man, she is pissed!'_ he thought.

He didn't know what to say. He was in a very awkward situation. He thought it best to agree with her, for fear she might hurt him, "Yeah, yeah, you're probably right."

She looked up at him, "'You're 'probably' right?'" He nodded, and she got up from her seat, "'You're _probably_ right'?! What does that mean? What are you trying to say?" He blinked several times, completely taken aback as she got closer and closer with each word she said until she was almost in his face. She spoke very fast and he couldn't get a word in. "What are you saying? That because Henry hasn't called he's probably sleeping with Charlie, is that what you're trying to say?!"

He was surprised by her accusation and immediately got up from the desk and put his hands up in front of him yet again, this time surrendering, "No, Betty, that's not what I'm trying to say!" He said, slowly backing away.

"You know what, Gio?" she said, following him and pointing her finger in his face accusingly. He was completely dumbstruck and looked from her face to her finger and back to her face. "I am _sick_ of you coming up here to torture me and I don't need it! So just GO!" She shouted and Gio felt like he had been punched in the stomach. All the air left his lungs and he took another step back as she said, "And don't come back!"

He felt completely numb. His eyes were wide, his mouth open, and he just stood there for a second or two before he turned to walk away. He took one last look at her over his shoulder before he finally turned his back on her and kept walking.

He didn't take the elevator. It wasn't quick enough, and he needed to get away. He needed to get as far away from her as he could. He needed to walk, he needed to walk away and continue walking. He walked down each flight of stairs, but by the time he reached floor 23 he had started running. By the time he reached the bottom, his legs felt like jelly, but he didn't know if it was because of all the running or if it was because of the pain he was feeling in his heart that seemed to make its way to his limbs. He made his way through the lobby and out to the street and, sticking his hands in his pockets, he continued to walk.

He walked, and walked, and walked, and walked. He even took the long way home, because he just needed to be alone. His vision blurred and he heard sounds around him, and a constant ringing, but they felt distant, as if they were a dream. When he finally reached the trashy apartment building he called 'home', he entered and headed up to the 3rd floor, apartment number 2, and stuck his key in the lock. The door opened with ease, and his sister immediately jumped into his arms.

"GIO!" she said, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist, "I was so worried! You didn't come home at your usual time and you didn't call and I tried to call you, but you didn't answer! I thought you were dead!"

Mrs. Peterson had gotten up from the couch and made her way over to them. "I assured her you were fine." She said.

He coughed, trying to regain some composure. "Uh, I'm fine, Nella. Really, I'm okay."

Antonella looked up into her brother's face, "Gio, what's wrong?"

"I'm fine, Nella. I just told you…"

"Then what are those tears for?"

He looked confused and slowly put his hand to his eye, where he felt wetness. He had been crying? How had he not realized?

Mrs. Peterson watched his face carefully the entire time. She knew those looks and she understood the pain he was feeling. She put her hand on Gio's shoulder and he looked up at her. "Give it time. Everything will work out in the end." And with that, she walked past him and he looked over his shoulder at her as she gave him a smile and shut the door behind her as she left. He turned back to Antonella, who looked completely confused.

"What will be okay? What's she talking about?"

He cleared his throat, "Nothing, Nella." He hung his jacket up and walked over to the couch, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. She took a seat next to him.

"So are you going to tell me where you've been?" She asked after several minutes of silence.

"I was out." He breathed in heavily through his nose, looking at the wall, determined to not look at his sister. He wasn't used to looking or feeling this vulnerable, and definitely not in front of his little sister. He had always been the strong one. He had to be, especially these past two years. So much had changed in their lives, and his sister took it hard. He couldn't let her know that he was dying inside, too. He had to be strong for her. He had to keep her from falling.

She punched him in the arm, "Tell me, Gio! What's wrong?"

But maybe she was just as strong. "Ow!" He said, rubbing his arm, "What was that for?"

"You're looking off in space and ignoring my questions! I want answers, darn it! Didn't you once tell me there wouldn't be anything between us? That we were together in everything?" She looked at him sternly, her eyes narrowed. "You're always taking care of everyone else, isn't it time you let someone take care of you?" He looked at her. He couldn't believe the words that were coming out of her mouth! His little sister was wise beyond her years; perhaps much wiser than he was.

"When did you get to be so smart?" he asked her.

She smiled at him, looking rather proud, "I've always been this smart, you just never noticed." She studied his face as he continued to avoid answering her question. "It's about Betty, isn't it?"

He looked surprised by her question. "What makes you say that?"

"It is, isn't it?" She brought her legs up under herself on the sofa and made herself more comfortable, "Spill!"

"Antonella!" he said, blushing slightly. He wasn't about to discuss his feelings for the woman he knew didn't love him.

"What? You talk about her _all_ the time, so why should this time be any different?"

"I do not…!" he retorted, but she cut him off.

"Yeah, you do. 'Betty this, Betty that.' That's all I ever hear. You try to make it sound like you're annoyed by her, but I can tell it's just an excuse to talk about her." His mouth was open, surprised at her words. He was trying to think of something to say, to prove her wrong, but nothing came to mind. "And," she continued, "I can tell that you are jealous of her boyfriend, Egg Salad, when you talk about him. Like yesterday, you were saying 'I brought Betty a couple sandwiches today and all she talked about was _Egg Salad_' and then something about him going out of town. You get this wrinkle on your forehead and you scrunch up your nose."

She saw his eyes shift to look down. "Oh," she said simply, "so this isn't just about Betty? What happened?"

He took in a deep breath. He knew she wouldn't let up until he had answered some, if not all, of her questions. He told her just enough to satisfy her curiosity and her need to help him. He left out everything with Henry going to Tucson for a sonogram, and he left out that Betty had yelled at him and told him to get out of her life. He simply told her that Henry was out of town and Betty was upset and didn't want to talk to him. He felt this was all she needed to know.

She then proceeded to comfort him in the least-embarrassing way possible. She told him he was more fun than Egg Salad and that Betty was nuts for not seeing it. He smiled at her and ruffled her hair. She scowled at him, "You messed up my hair!"

"It doesn't matter, Nella, 'cause it's bedtime and your hair is gonna get messy anyway." He laughed. She crossed her arms and stuck her tongue out at him before she joined him. She gave him a hug, "G'night!" she said and then headed off to her room for sleep.

**xXx**

The next morning Gio got Antonella off to school, but instead of heading to his deli like usual, he decided to take a detour. That was one of the perks of being your own boss: you could show up whenever you felt like it.

He walked down the hall of the hospital and entered room #507. Inside was a single bed where a woman lay sleeping, hooked up to a bunch of machines. She had long, dark hair and fair skin. He took a breath and walked closer to her and kissed her on the forehead. She did not stir. She hadn't for two years now. He took her hand in his, "Hi, Mom." He ran his thumb over the soft skin of her hand and took a seat in the chair beside her bed. "I'm sorry I haven't been to visit you lately, I've been a bit busy with work. I know it's a shameless excuse, but it's the truth. _Gio's Deli_ has finally taken off and business has been very good. I think you'd be really proud by how things are going." He smiled and squeezed her hand. How he longed for her to squeeze it back.

He bit his lip, watching her relaxed features. If she wasn't hooked up to all these machines, you would think she was just sleeping and that she was perfectly fine. He inhaled another deep breath, "I'm having some trouble. Don't worry, it's nothing serious." He added, assuring her that all was well, as if she had been awake listening to him and looked worried, "It's stupid, really. Well, not stupid to me. That's the thing, you see… do you remember that girl, Betty, I've been telling you so much about?" he wished she could acknowledge that she knew of whom he was speaking, though she would never have had to anyway. Clara Rossi, when she was "awake" as he called it, would always know the 'what' and 'who' of everything every time he spoke with her. She was an eager listener, and always spoke her mind, even if she knew it was something he didn't want to hear. She could never lie, and he loved that about her. He just knew that she would instantly love Betty if she ever met her, for they were so much alike.

He shook his head, he was getting off track. He cleared his throat, "Well, we kind of… she's really angry with me. Actually, I don't even think it's me she's mad at. I think she is just taking her anger out on me. At least, I hope that's it." He said the last part more to himself, trying to assure himself that that was why she was so angry with him. "I went to her yesterday. I had said some things to her a couple days ago out of jealousy that I knew would upset her, and they did, so I went to apologize yesterday. She was physically angry and annoyed, and I knew I should probably leave her alone, but I couldn't keep away. I had to talk to her. I had to tell her I was sorry for what I had said. It was the hardest thing I'd ever had to do when it comes to her."

He chuckled, "I know you would see right through my disguise when it comes to her. You'd see the truth. Antonella does. I don't know how long she's known, but she does. She's so much like you, Mom, it's scary," he looked down, his smile slowly fading as he looked back at his mother's face. He had gotten off track again.

"Anyway, I went to apologize, and it went horribly wrong. She accused me of saying that her boyfriend was sleeping with his ex-girlfriend, and she told me that she was sick of me torturing her. I know I annoy her sometimes, but it's all in good fun. I never really thought I was bugging her that much." He brought his hand to his forehead and slowly dragged it down his face until it reached his mouth, where he kept it for a moment or two as he thought back to yesterday.

"_I am _sick_ of you coming up here to torture me and I don't need it! So just GO! And don't come back!"_

The words pierced his heart like a dagger and Betty was twisting it deeper and deeper.

"I don't know what to do. I can't go to her and ask for her to forgive me again. It would be as if I was begging, and I won't do that, Mom. It's too desperate, and I am not a desperate man…" he shook his head slightly, looking down and tracing his mother's fingers with his thumb, "That's a lie… I am desperate. Desperately in love with her." He looked at his mother's face once more, "But I am not going to beg for her forgiveness and I am not going to beg for her to love me. I will never do that. I know better. I know she doesn't feel the same way towards me. She is in love with Egg Sa…" he sighed, "_Henry_. She is in love with _Henry_, and if her feelings for _Henry_ are anything like mine for her, than she must love him more than words can say."

He felt that twinge of jealousy again, deep within his abdomen, and did his best to contain the boiling into a low simmer. He sat there in quiet for several minutes, staring at his mother's face and stroking her hand. The silence was only broken when his cell phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and saw an unknown number. He picked it up, "Hello?" he said calmly into the mouthpiece. There was a man on the other line. "Yes, this is Giovanni Rossi…I'm sorry? …What?! When? …A woman? …Yeah, I'll be right there." He hung up the phone, his previous feelings immediately replaced by anger. He looked at his mother's unconscious face, "I gotta go, Mom. I'm sorry. Someone broke into my deli and they say they've got her there and they are waiting for me to come before they do anything further, so I really have to go." He kissed her hand gently, "I'm really sorry, I promise I'll come by more often, and not just when I have a problem. I promise." He kissed her on the forehead one last time before getting up and turning to leave.

**xXx**

When Gio arrived at his deli and saw the broken window, his heart sunk. When he entered his deli and saw the unconscious girl in handcuffs on the floor, a policeman standing over her, his heart sank even further. "Betty?" he said, completely taken aback.

"You Giovanni Rossi?" the policeman asked. Gio nodded. "You know this girl?" He nodded again. "Ex-girlfriend?" Gio shook his head this time. Betty began to stir.

She moaned, "Where am I? What happened?"

"Trying to figure that out, ma'am," said the policeman, writing on his notepad. Gio moved to help Betty sit up, "You passed out in _Gio's Deli_."

"Come on," he said gently, helping her up.

"Gio?"

"Apparently you threw a trashcan through the window."

"What? I wouldn't do that!" she groaned and moved her hand to her head before noticing the handcuffs on her wrists, "Oh, my God."

"Lose the cuffs, officer," Gio said, looking at the policeman. Betty looked at him, "I won't be pressing any charges."

"No, no, no, no. Gio, if I did something illegal, then I'm prepared to face the consequences. What would I be looking at, officer?"

The officer began to read off his notepad, "Breaking and entering, criminal trespassing, vandalism; I'd say five years."

Betty looked from the cop to Gio, eyes wide and scared. "Help!" she whispered to Gio, almost in tears.

"Yeah, okay," he said, looking at the officer, "we're good here." He helped Betty to her feet.

"Gio, I would never throw a trashcan," Betty said apologetically. As the officer began to remove the cuffs, Betty explained how she has never done anything like this before and told a story about when she was in school and told on some kid named Tommy DeLuca for doing something with a butter pat. Gio heard her as she was saying all this, but he wasn't really listening. His mind was spinning, unsure what to make of everything. Why would Betty do this? He was so hurt right now that he almost felt tears welling up in his eyes, but immediately pushed them back down. That was not going to happen!

"Oh. No, I-I did- I didn't mean that crime was funny, I just- I just meant that this situation…with me…and in handcuffs…" he heard the tears in her voice and knew she was about to cry.

He put an arm around her to try and let her know that all was forgiven, "Okay, okay," he said calmly.

"I don't understand… I'm so not myself lately."

**xXx**

After everything had been taken care of with the police, Gio took Betty to the hospital. "Do you want me to call your family?" he asked her as they waited in the waiting room.

"No, please, I don't want them to worry." Betty told him, rubbing her temples with her fingers.

"Betty Suarez?" the nurse called, and Gio grabbed Betty's hand and helped her up from her seat, but once on her feet she almost immediately fell over.

Gio caught her quickly, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, I-I'm fine." She said very unconvincingly, trying to push herself away from Gio to prove she was fine, but he didn't let her. He took her arm and wrapped it around his neck, and then wrapped his arm around her waist so he could help her walk. "Gio, this isn't necessary, really."

"You're a lousy liar, Betty, you know that?" he said with a crooked smile. They followed the nurse to a room and Gio helped her get on the examining table.

"The doctor will be right in," the nurse told them before letting herself out.

Betty leaned forward and rested her head in her palms, groaning, "I feel so sick…" she said. He put his hand on her back and began to rub it gently to try and help her. "Gio?"

"Hm?" was his reply as he continued to rub her back.

"Thank you." She said, and he felt his heart skip a beat.

He gave a slight smile, "No problem."

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**AN:** Sorry the ending kinda sucks. I had this all planned out, but then I got to the ending and that was the one part I didn't really plan. Lol!! I hope you liked it!!


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